Seeking once again the help of
God, I would like us to turn together to the second chapter
that we read, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and the text you'll find in
verse 16. For which cause we faint not,
though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. This morning we looked at the
statement of the Apostle Paul which was a rather unusual statement
that he gloried and that he took pleasure in his infirmities. We know by nature that our flesh
hates difficulty and hardship. persecution and distresses and
needs and always seeks for that easy pathway. therefore someone
to say that they take pleasure in a difficult pathway, they
take their glory in a difficult pathway, their glory in their
infirmities, shows that something unusual is taking place in the
life of that person. Either they have lost their mind
or as with the apostle Paul, he's He understands that those
difficulties and oppositions and persecutions are working
for a greater good in himself, that they are drawing him closer
to the Lord Jesus Christ, they are drawing him closer to God,
that he's able to rest in that promise that was given to him,
that God's grace is enough for him, is sufficient for him. that
God is more glorified in the weakness of the Apostle Paul
than when he is strong. People see Christ more in Paul's
weakness than they do when he is excelling in his own strength. So he is able to glory and take
pleasure in his infirmities. And as the people of God, as
we pass through various difficulties of life and as we focus upon
those difficulties we're very liable to be discouraged and
so we need to take courage that someone like the Apostle, a natural
man yet walking with the Lord is able to experience a great
joy the great pleasure, the great nearness of God in his difficulties,
in the hardships of life. And you and I, we can and no
doubt we have experienced those times when we have been empty
and we have been at our wit's end and we have been in very
difficult experiences and having real great needs. and we see
the promises of God come true, we see the nearness of God, we
see the providential workings out of God, we see unusual things
happening in our lives to enable us to have that strength and
that ability to continue and to press on and once we have
come out of those trials and out of those difficulties when
we look back at them we realise how close we were to the Lord. Although our flesh fought against
the way, although our flesh found it painful and difficult and
no doubt our minds perplexing yet as we look back we realise
that we were walking very very closely with the Lord and we
see that when those trials pass how quickly we distance ourselves,
how quickly we move away from God. It's like a ship coming
out of the harbour, the safety and security of that harbour. We then drift off into the open
ocean and it's not until another storm comes that we desire to
flee back to the safety of that harbour, that security of that
harbour and is in our God. often appears in the times when
we are at our wits end, when we're in our complete weakness,
when we are empty then he appears, when we are nothing in ourselves
and it is in our experiences when we come to know him. we
are brought to nothing. We must be brought to hunger.
We must be brought to thirst. We must see our need of the Lord
Jesus Christ before Christ comes to us. We must be there at that
desperate state. Our realization of our condemnation
before God to look to and to find safety in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so the Christian pathway
is that bringing low and then that meeting with the Lord and
that restoration. And the Apostle experiences it
in his life but he has something which drives him. Yes, he says
it's not me but it is the Lord. But he has that driving force
of the Gospel. He desires to see the saving
grace of God move amongst those who he is ministering to. He
sees that the Old Testament brought about an availing of the things
of God. Moses as he went up into the
mountain to pick up the Ten Commandments when he came down his face shone
and the people of Israel asked him to veil his face and he says that if this Old
Testament, this old covenant was so glorious that Moses had
to veil his face. How much more is the fullness
of Christ? If the Old Testament is Christ
concealed The New Testament Christ revealed. If the Old Testament
was going to be that, that which is going to pass away, yet it
was so glorious and so splendid, how much more glorious is the
Gospel going to be? He says in verse 18 in chapter
3, but we all with open face behold as in a glass the glory
of the Lord and are changed into the same image from glory to
glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore seeing we
have this ministry as we received mercy we faint not. The Apostle Paul saw that this
gospel was the unveiling of the Old Testament, the unveiling
of the Old Testament, that the gospel should go forth with power
into all the world. And as he laboured, he says that
they fainted not. because he saw the glory of the
gospel. He had that desire for that gospel
to be spread and the gospel to be revealed. He says, but if
our gospel be hid, it is hid from them that are lost. Verse 15, he says that he desires
to see the multitudes resounding in
glory for the glory of God, for all things are now for your sake,
that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many
redound to the glory of God, for which cause we faint not. And so even though this spread
of the gospel was extremely burdensome upon his flesh, they suffered
those persecutions on every side perplexities persecuted bearing
about the body of the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ that the
life also of Christ might be manifested in our body for we
which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake that
the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal
flesh and so the spread of this gospel caused him and those others
to suffer great persecution yet he believed that he had this
treasure in an earthen vessel, that his body was just a tent,
that his body was just a clay pot but in his body he housed
a beautiful treasure the treasure of the light of the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ and he was willing to suffer persecution. He was willing to suffer opposition
to be rejected of his own countrymen so that this treasure could go
forward into all the world beginning at Jerusalem to Samaria then
into all the world. Because his desire was to see
souls won to Christ. He was willing to pass through
that hardship and that opposition. He says, for this reason, for
this cause, we faint not. But though our outward man perish,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day. The outward man,
the believer has this dual nature He has the outward man and he
has the inner man. We know as the scripture tells
us that man was created in the image of God. Adam was given
a wife Eve taken out of his own flesh, bone of my bone and flesh
of my flesh. God breathed into Adam and he
became a living soul and he sinned against God. He died spiritually
in separation from God yet he lived physically. Through the
power of the Holy Spirit a person is born again. Their spirit is
revived, they live. And there is this dual nature
within them, the old nature and the new man, the new creation,
the new creation in Christ Jesus. the outward man and the inner
man. Paul knew that these persecutions
and these troubles, these perplexities and these oppositions only affected
the outward man, only affected the clay exterior They only affected
the tent that housed the treasure. The outward man perishes. Although we are not suffering
like the Apostle Paul yet our outward man, our outward body
is still perishing. From the moment we are born we don't know how long we would
live. Our body is condemned to die
because of sin. And so our outward man is continually
perishing. We're continually getting older
every minute of every day. If we live to tomorrow It will
be another day, the nearer death. Constantly perishing. We are weaker. We are tired. The Christian has this hope of
the inner man. That their spirit has been revived. They're indwelt by the Holy Spirit
of God. They've been given eternal life. And so though the outward man
is dying, although the outward man succumbs to sickness and
weakness and death ultimately, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. Paul experienced that supernatural
strength, that supernatural restoration to enable him to continue in
the work that the Lord had given him to do. Yes, he had that desire
to see and that determination to see the gospel spread, but
that was a supernatural gift given to him. He says I can do
all things through Christ that strengthens him of himself. He couldn't do anything. He says
when I am weak then he is strong and so he experienced that daily
renewing of spiritual strength to enable him to continue on
in the work that God was given him to do. Although his body
it was dying and being driven into the grave yet his spirit
is soaring day by day in strength enabling him to press on. If you think of it that somebody who
lives by a well will never be thirsty. Even if there is a drought
roundabout they can always go to that well and they can always
draw water. You can't drink all the water
for one month in one day. You must go to the well when
you are thirsty to get that drink that you need to sustain you.
The Apostle Paul was given that strength day by day to do the
work that the Lord gave him to do. He was not given a month's
supply but his inner man was renewed daily. as he drew as
he drank from that fountain as he came to the throne of grace,
as he laid his concerns before the Lord, his burdens for the
churches, his troubles and oppositions that he was experiencing, he
experienced that inner strength to persevere and to continue. Yes, his outward body failed
him with weakness and difficulty. Yes, it was succumbing to the
outward pressures. Yet his inner man was being renewed
day by day. He was drinking daily at the
fountain. He was drinking daily at the
throne of grace. He was drinking daily of that
spiritual nourishment, that well of water springing up out of
his body which is the Holy Spirit. And he focuses upon the eternal things. He sees that his outward body
is perishing. Not only his outward body but
also everything that he can see he puts into a box as temporal. If I can see it it's passing
away. If I can see it I'm not going
to be able to take it with me it's just a temporary thing here
for a little moment and then it's going to pass away. He saw
the gospel as a spiritual treasure. That is where his heart was.
That is what he wanted to pass on. That is what he wanted to
see succeed. He wasn't interested in the material
success but he was interested in the advancement of the spiritual
treasure that could cause people's lives to be transformed by the
glorious light of the gospel. Why is it a treasure? It is a
treasure because it takes people from the darkness. It takes them
from spiritual deadness and it brings them into the kingdom
of light. The light of the glorious gospel.
Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is in the
image of God should shine unto them. That's why it was a treasure. He saw it as something that did
not pass away, as something that was worth labouring for, that
he was worthy of the affliction
that he was passing through. In him it was like a fire that
couldn't go out. As he looked at the temporary
things he thought, this light affliction
that I am passing through is just for a moment. We looked at some of the things
that this man went through for the advancement of the kingdom,
for the proclamation of the gospel. I
don't think we would put them in the category of light affliction but when you put them side by
side with the eternal weight of glory that Christ has secured
for his people in heaven for eternity that he has provided
for them eternal life, that he has taken them from the darkness
into the light and placed them in the body of Christ, placed
them as the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, then given them
that hope, that guarantee of his spirit that they will be
in heaven forever. then everything that we pass
through is seen as light and for a moment. The scripture
tells us that our lives are our vapours. The scripture tells
us that our lives are just like a flower that comes up and then
is cut down. So fragile. So fleeting. although when we pass through
difficult times time seems to slow down and the experiences
that we pass through seem to be prolonged yet when you balance
them along or when you place them alongside of eternity then
those afflictions are light and for a moment. if you balance them alongside
those who are outside of Christ. Paul was passing through these
things because of the advancement of the gospel. He was persecuted
because of the proclamation of the gospel. Yet there were those
who were blinded by Satan, whose lives may have appeared to be
more of more ease or more prosperous than his. Yet when you place
what they will experience there will be no light affliction
and it won't be for a moment. The judgment of God is an eternal
judgment. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. A place of torment. A place of
fire. a place that is eternal. And although Christians suffer
in this world and their suffering may seem
to be prolonged Yet it is nothing compared with what they will
experience in glory, and it's nothing compared with what those
who are outside of Christ will experience for forever and ever. And so Paul says that his outward
man is perishing, yet the inward man is renewed day by day, for
his light affliction is but for a moment. working for us far
more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory while we look not at
the things which are seen but at those things which are not
seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things
which are not seen are eternal. In Hebrews chapter 12 Verses 1 and 2 it says, Wherefore
seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does
so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race set
before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith. who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of God. And when we compare our suffering
to the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is but a light
affliction and it is but for a moment. And though our outward
man is perishing, yet the inward man is renewed a day by day. I trust the Lord will bless these
few remarks. Amen. Let's sing in conclusion from
hymns for worship 173. 173. Take up your cross, the Saviour
said. If you would, my disciple, be.
Deny yourself, the world forsake, and humbly follow after me. Hymns for Worship 173, June 353. Taking up your cross, now say
the same. If you would my dear, so I will
be. Deny yourself, the world forsaken. ? And thou may follow after me
? ? Take up your rosy, clouded feet ? ? And thou be sorrow within
my heart ? ? This church shall bear your spirit on ? ? And praise
your heart and bless your heart ? ? Take up your cross for He
has shed His blood ? ? Your heads for purest white fill them ?
? And look for to the cross enthroned ? ? To save your soul from death
and woe ? ? Pick up your rose and follow
Christ ? ? No victim dare to be hanged down ? ? For only he
who bears the rose ? May the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship and
communion of the Holy Spirit, do be with us now and forevermore.
Amen.